Revoke Notification Permission Site by Site
Every browser keeps its own list of sites allowed to send alerts, so a permission granted in Chrome does nothing for Firefox. Check each browser you use.
Chrome: open Settings, then Privacy and security, then Site settings, then Notifications. Find the lists labelled “Not allowed to send notifications” and “Allowed to send notifications.” Click the three dots beside any domain you cannot explain and choose Remove. Google describes the same screens in its guide to Chrome notification settings.
Edge: go to Settings, then Cookies and site permissions, then Notifications. Under Allow, use the three dots next to each suspicious site and pick Remove.
Firefox: open Settings, then Privacy & Security, scroll to Permissions, and click Settings beside Notifications. Select a site and click Remove Website.
Safari on a Mac: choose Safari, then Settings, then Websites, then Notifications. Select the unwanted entry and click Remove.
Block and Remove are not the same. Block keeps a record telling the browser to stay silent, so a junk site cannot ask again. Remove wipes the entry, which suits a site you simply no longer need.
Switch Off the Prompt Itself
Cleaning up is only half the job. Change the global default and sites cannot even ask.
In Chrome, return to Site settings, then Notifications, and pick “Don’t allow sites to send notifications.” Above it sits “Use quieter messaging,” which collapses requests into a small bell icon in the address bar. That is a fair middle ground, though a hurried click on the bell can still approve a site.
In Edge, turn off the toggle reading “Ask before sending (recommended)” and requests are blocked outright. In Firefox, tick “Block new requests asking to allow notifications” in the same Notifications dialog. In Safari, untick “Allow websites to ask for permission to send notifications.”
The cost is real: webmail, calendars, and chat sites can no longer ask, so you add them yourself. Chrome and Edge have an Add button beside the Allowed list, and Firefox lets you manage exceptions in its dialog. Typing the address of a service you trust beats answering a prompt on a page you stumbled onto.
Fix It on Android and iPhone
On Android, press and hold the spam alert, then tap the gear or “Manage notifications” option. It names the sending site, and you can switch it off right there. To audit everything, open Chrome, tap the three dots, then Settings, then Notifications, and review the Sites section. Under Settings, then Site settings, then Notifications, you can turn off the master switch so nothing asks again.
The iPhone behaves differently. Safari does not show the old-style prompt on ordinary pages. A website can only send alerts after you add it to your Home Screen as a web app. If one misbehaves, go to Settings, then Notifications, find it by name, and switch Allow Notifications off, or delete the icon. Junk that arrives by text or call instead is a separate problem, covered in our guide to blocking spam calls and texts.
How Permission Prompts Trick You
These requests work because they pose as something else.
The most frequent disguise is the false gate: a blurred video, a fake download bar, or a robot check with text such as “Click Allow to continue.” Real CAPTCHAs ask you to pick images or tick a box and never need notification access.
Another trick is the pointing arrow, drawn toward the top-left corner where the genuine prompt sits. Related is the imitation dialog, a box inside the page copying a browser prompt. A real one is attached to the address bar, outside the page. If it scrolls with the page, it is fake.
Also watch for pressure: countdown timers, a page locked until you answer, a prompt returning on every reload, or a bright Allow button beside tiny grey Block text.
When any of this appears, click neither button and close the tab. If you already clicked Allow, use the steps above. While tidying, our piece on browser cache cleanup without breaking your logins covers clearing stale data safely.